Brew Review: Trader Joe’s Boatswain HLV

Have I mentioned M isn’t into pumpkin spice anything? Well, that makes the fall beer scene a little hard for me to navigate because I love the seasonality to beer. I love trying something new that signals that it’s fall or winter. Which leads us this Trader Joe’s own label of beer, which released this high gravity brown ale.

The bottle poured two perfect pints, which was all we needed of this 7%-er. The head was nice and tan and the beer had a smooth mouthfeel. I enjoy darker and cream ales, like Guinness, and this had a similar bite. It was pretty good but nothing too different so I’m not sure we’ll seek it out but I’m glad we tried it.